Ordered Chaos

About a week ago, I found myself taking part in an act of idiocy – I registered for a 50-mile race in Wisconsin on October 24th.  Though it fits into my long term plan to ascend the trail running staircase to a 100-miler, I still am left wondering why anyone would do this. Time will only tell.  Well, time and pain…and hunger and blisters and dehydration and glycogen depletion. Seriously, what am I thinking?!?

During a long trail run with Scott this summer, we exchanged goals, both intellectual and physical, and I vocalized the principle that hangs like an umbrella over my life: to do something each year that extends beyond the realm of my past achievements.

Last year I ran my first 50k, and it was glorious.  I felt great throughout the race and even had enough left in the tank to kick at the end. A banner day, really. Though I can’t plan on that happening on any given day, I’m trying to convince myself that the only difference between a 50k and a 50mi race is a couple arbitrary letters.  And so go the mind games. Those very mind games will either wreak havoc or act as my savior during the race…though both will likely occur.

However, come race day, no matter how mentally prepared I am, I also must be physically prepared, and to that extent I have a lot of work to do. Hours of running, miles of pounding, gallons of sweating. Left, right, repeat as necessary. It’s so simple, yet so difficult. But at the end of the year, I’ll have peace of mind in knowing that I did something this year that I’ll never forget, at least one “moment” that can help define 2009.  Cool.

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to cross a big ticket item off my list.  And I didn’t just succeed, I ultra-succeeded.  Yes, it was my very first ultramarathon!! For the past few years, ever since I heard about people running farther than 26.2, it’s had an enticing lure. That gentle pull soon turned into ambitious curiosity, and a few mouse clicks later I was signed up for the North Face Endurance Challenge 50k in Wisconsin.

Because teaching doesn’t allot me the luxury of taking chunks of time off (well, at least three seasons a year), and because running 26.2+ doesn’t leave me with record breaking motivation to drive 8 hours back home, my mom & stepdad graciously decided to roadtrip with me to Wisconsin.

Even without considering the race, we all had a great time!  We laughed, we ate, we drank, and I almost cried.  More on that later. Race morning began not so bright and early at 5am.  And with a quick shower, bowl of oatmeal and coffee, we hit the road for the 20 minute drive from our hotel to Ottawa Lake.

Mom & Jerry at race start

The race atmosphere was nothing like a road marathon. It was fairly low-key, but with plenty to eat and plenty of stories to soak in with all the ultrarunners exchanging tales of blood, tears, blisters & victory. At 8am sharp, the race began with instructions to stick together until the course’s first highway crossing.  You’d never get road runners to obey these kind of instructions.

Race start

Although it was a brisk morning, it was perfect for us runners, and the course was beautiful! The path wove through Kettle Moraine State Forest, through heavily wooded areas, prairies, tall native grasses, and the Ice Age Trail.  Though never too brutal, some hills were definitely not runnable. The most common piece of advice I’ve heard & read is to establish a run/walk strategy throughout an ultra.  That is, maybe run 25 minutes & walk 5.  I don’t think I walked at all during the first 10-12 miles of the race.  At that point I deliberately started to insert some walking on the uphills while scarfing Clif Bars.  Mmmm, chocolate brownie…

Throughout the race I exchanged many words of encouragement, and chatted it up with fellow runners. Ultrarunners are definitely a chatty bunch, and this makes the race atmosphere much more enjoyable and less competitive. What also makes a race more enjoyable is spectator support, especially family support.  I’m officially naming Mom & Jerry uber-spectators. The plan was for them to hang around the first three aid stations at miles 1, 6 and 11, where the course wove back to the same aid station three times.  Then, I’d see them next at the finish. However, to my relieved surprised, they hit every single aid station except mile 16! One thing about having your mom cheer you on during such a long race is that you have to do some “mom” things.  Like pose for a picture with cheerleaders at mile 27.  Thanks Mom! :~)

Me & the cheerleaders at mile 27

The race was long, and I started to feel it after leaving Mom & Jerry (and the cheerleaders) at mile 27. But those feelings were put to death upon spotting a lady on a seemingly endless uphill.  Upon passing her she said, “Great job! Only 1.7 miles to go!”  And that was it.  I surged ahead and started running like I was running the mile in junior high.  I passed several runners during that last stretch, and as I crossed the finished line I think I choked on my own tears. If Allison had been able to make it to the race, I’d have been sobbing at the end.

The emotional uplift that follows the accomplishment of such a big ticket item is priceless.  But one thing’s for sure, I’ll never run my first ultra again.  But I will run my second.  And I’ll run longer. I’ll do many things I’ve never done before, because that’s what I enjoy most.  The challenges of the unknown, the freshness of new goals, the exhilaration of sweet victory.  Also, the presence of family & friends throughout all walks of life, cheering me on both in person and over the phone.

Victory! (and a medal to prove it)

Call me lazy, call me busy, call me an absentee blogger.  Call me whatever you want – it’s been awhile.  A serious while.  Hell, we didn’t even round off our trip to Europe with tales of the last few cities we visited.  But life goes on, and so do new careers.  While Al has been slaving for the Med Center, I’ve been slaving in the classroom. Our newfound endeavors are time consuming, to say the least.  To say the most, I know that I’ve found my niche.  Teaching has turned out to be just as rewarding as expected, and double the intensity as anticipated.

But some things never change. When the pot has all but boiled over and the you-know-what’s about to hit the fan, I still just go for a run. And it seems that over the last four months I’ve done a bit more than usual. Though the last month or so has been somewhat sporadic, I’ve set my sights on uber-long distance goals. Next Thursday I’ll head up to Wisconsin with Mom & Jerry to run my first ultramarathon.  More of a starter ultra at 50k. Even though this will be farther than I’ve ever run, in my mind it’s the pregame tailgate party for 50- and 100-milers.  My goal is to have run a 100-miler before the age of 30, and I’ve got a couple years left.  Truth be told, though, I’m looking to cross this off my list within a year.

All that being said, I ran my fifth marathon on September 28th, and it panned out beautifully.  Starting off convservatively, I did my jaunt around dowtown and headed south for the hills of Rosenblatt and the zoo.  What a joy it is to have a family cheer squad bounce around the course for support!  Allison, Mom, Jerry, Rob, Caity, Collin & Dylan all made it down to the race to zip around Paparazzi-style, as if I were a rockstar. Though I am but a rookie teacher and mediocre runner, they sure make me feel like a rockstar – thanks guys!

At the halfway point I felt pretty good and decided that I’d increase my pace by about 15 seconds per mile. Though I fell off pace slightly toward the end of the race, this proved to be a reasonable adjustment.  The second half of the course is monotonous and draining, and I really do believe that this is the case aside from the fact that a marathoner’s attitude tends to take a downward spiral between miles 18 and 25.

At any rate, my yearnings to be done running for the day were erased by the sights & sounds of the finish line atmosphere, which is so much improved now that the course finishes at the Lewis & Clark Landing. I finished with a chip time of 3:35:07, my second best marathon time, but what I consider my smartest-run marathon yet. Another marathon down, and many more to come. Stay tuned for a race report on the North Face Endurance Challenge 50k that I’ll be running on October 25th.

It’s been awhile.  Yes, quite some time for so many things.  First, it’s been quite some time – almost a month and a half – since I posted on this blog.  I’ve felt disconnected.  Second, it’s been awhile since I’ve really gotten away from the craziness that my life has relentlessly presented.  In this way, I’ve felt way too connected.  Well, last weekend was my “Psycho Getaway” to disconnect and reconnect at the same time.  To be more specific, I ran the Psycho WyCo Run Toto, Run 20-Mile Trail Run in Kansas City last Saturday.  At the very least, I was able to accept a beating from the brutality of the race course: hilly, rocky, rooty, snowy, muddy, icy, and did I say hilly?  Sometimes hitting rock bottom (or muddy bottom) can be the surest way to success.  World War II General George Patton said it best:

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

At best, this race for me represented an introduction to a mysterious population: the ultrarunners.  The event also included a 50k (31-mile) race, which draws a crowd much different than you would see at a road race.  Trail runners & ultrarunners seem to compete with much more of a “big picture” mentality. In a line of runners, the front runner is always happy to pull over and let those behind pass.  Road races are more free-for-alls and it’s the runner in back who carries the burden of fancy footwork to side-step the front runner. You see, trail runners realize that the stealthly runners looking to pass everyone will most likely tire sometime before mile 31, or even 20 or 10.  It was nice to be exposed to such a big-picture mentality…maybe just what I needed as I start my career in the difficult world of education.  The best things in life cost us blood, sweat or tears, or some combination of the three.

Anyway, coming back to the surface, the race was a wonderful experience.  For now, though, I’ve got my sights on my next marathon, even two. It’s looking like Lincoln for the spring, and Chicago for the fall.  If I can’t measure my life in any other way, then it’ll be one marathon at a time.  That’s my big picture.

Time has become a precious commodity amid the ever increasing pace of our restless society. As a result, the decision of what to do with our time becomes increasingly important. If you know nothing else about me, you probably know that I’m infatuated with running. Probably more like addicted or obsessed…whatever, I might have a problem, but that’s a story for another day. Having logged almost 1,000 miles this year, each run is bound to resemble some previous run and diverge from others. It seems that when I head out the door, I’m either plugging into my iPod for a musical escape, unplugging as a sort of primitive purist, or just sprinting from my car to sweat blood for an hour while sucking some serious O₂.

However, there is one other type of run that has faded from my routine: the social run. It is a time when we can chat with a friend on the go and catch up on our busy lives. And even when the pace settles to a moderate trot, the benefits of such a forward moving conversation reach into the depths of the mind that are first to go when we tighten our schedules. Unfortunately, this oversight deprives us of the very nature of our humanity: to build and maintain relationships.

Today I had the pleasure of running a Thanksgiving Fun Run with a friend and the Omaha Running Club. Not only were we able to catch up on our experiences as teachers-in-training, but also release some pent-up frustration from being knee-deep in graduate work. The result? A clearer mind, an exercised body, and rejuvenated lungs full of cold winter air. So cheers to the social run and starting Thanksgiving with a little R & R – that’s running and relaxation. To be completely honest, though, I did get there early to run the course once at a hard pace before the actual fun run. After all, when I can’t decide between two types of runs, I do them both.